Resilience
Resilience. One word that can determine whether you survive or not. One word that can determine whether you pick up and keep going or gradually fade into the background, no longer relevant to the word around you.
I was reminded about what it means to be resilient recently when I was not selected for a job role, despite being one of the two finalists. I gave it my all, I had great conversations with my interviewers, and I felt good coming out of the final round of interviews. Then I started to notice the signs. Follow up wasn’t as forthcoming as I expected it to be despite how enthusiastic the organization was about me. I was told to expect feedback as of a certain date, it didn’t come. Then I was going to receive it by a slightly later date. It came. I was a strong candidate, the decision was hard, but I wasn’t selected. Someone that was closer to where the organization is headquartered was. Someone that wouldn’t require relocation. I lost the opportunity because my situation was harder to deal with logistically for this organization that what the other candidate’s situation was.
The anger set in, as did the frustration, the disappointment, and the questions about what I could have done differently. Rather than getting the chance to make a positive impact within an organization, I was shown the exit. I had little explanation as to why and a lingering feeling that I wasn’t selected because someone didn’t want to deal with the logistics involved with me taking the role.
The response to this kind of situation could becoming a defining moment in my professional and personal life. Either I choose to double down in my current role and excel where I am or I disengage, become bitter, and resent that I wasn’t going to be where I wanted to. I made a conscious decision to choose the former. I chose resilience. No organization is perfect; the organization I work in today is far from perfect. Yet if I choose to be resilient, I choose to engage more and choose to find opportunity in times of setback when I know I can make the organization better.
I refuse to let the decision made by someone else define my outlook, my attitude, or whether or I am happy or not. I choose to be resilient. I chose to move forward.